Red wine may fight deafness

MODERATE consumption of red wine or aspirin may delay the onset of age-related deafness and reduce hearing loss caused by loud noise and some antibiotics.

The delicate hairs of the inner ear which are vital for hearing can be damaged by the oxygen free radicals produced by normal cellular processes throughout life and in response to loud noise and exposure to antibiotics. Antioxidants such as resveratrol, which is found in red wine and green tea, or salicylate, the active ingredient of aspirin, help to neutralise these free radicals, so might be expected to protect against some of this damage.

To test this, Jochen Schacht of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor and his colleagues used salicylate to try and prevent damage to the hair cells in patients' ears caused by the powerful antibiotic gentamicin. Ironically, gentamicin is often used to treat severe, acute ear infections, although it ...

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